Can ruminant metabolizable energy of barley, chickpea and lentil straw be predicted using chemical composition?

This study attempted to generate simple and robust models to predict metabolizable energy (ME) content of barley, chickpea and lentil straw using chemical composition. Crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and ME of 1933, 487 and 489 straw samples of barley, chickpea and lentil respectively were determined using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The samples belonged to 1933 genotypes of barley, 79 genotypes of chickpea and 66 genotypes of lentil. Barley samples were collected from experimental locations of International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Morocco. Chickpea and lentil samples were collected from Ethiopian Institute of agricultural Research experimental locations. Data of each crop was randomly divided into two sets, a training set (75% of the data) and a deployment set (25% of the data). Crude protein, NDF, ADF and ADL were regressed on ME and Box-cox transformed ME of the training sets to generate prediction models. Coefficients of these models were used to calculate residuals and prediction error (PE) in both training and deployment sets. Criteria used in the screening algorithm were low PE (95th percentile of PE≤4) and homogenous residuals in both training and deployment sets. Barley and chickpea models were unable to predict ME of deployment samples with a 95th percentile of PE less than 4. Heterogeneity of residuals of the deployment set was found in lentil model (positive residuals= 64% of overall residuals). Accordingly, chemical composition from NIR is a poor predictor for ME of straws of barley, chickpea and lentil to formulate rations for farm management and a direct measurement of ME of these straws is still required

Integrating straw yield and quality into multi-dimensional improvement of lentil (Lens culinaris )

BACKGROUND: Lentil straw is an important source of fodder for livestock in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. However, improvement programmes of lentil do not pay attention to straw traits, neither are straw traits considered in release criteria of new varieties. This study aimed to determine whether straw traits can be integrated into multi‐trait improvement of lentil. RESULTS: Wide genotypic variation (P 0.05) was found between grain yield. CONCLUSION: The possibility to simultaneously improve grain yield and nutritive traits of lentil straw

Unconventional feeds for small ruminants in dry areas have a minor effect on manure nitrogen flow in the soil-plant system

In dry areas, unconventional feeds are increasingly used for mitigating feed shortages and rangeland degradation. We evaluated how feeding sheep diets containing olive leaves, saltbush leaves and olive cake affects manure quality compared to a barley straw based diet. Soil incubation and plant growth experiments were carried out to measure soil nitrogen (N) mineralization and N uptake by barley plants and to calculate N flow through the feed-animal-soil-plant system. Fresh feces, composts consisting of feces, urine and straw, and ammonium sulfate fertilizer were mixed with soil at rate of 90mgNkg−1 soil dry matter. Comparisons were made with non-amended soils (control) and soils amended with fresh olive cake applied at 90 and 22.5mgNkg−1 soil dry matter, respectively. The latter treatment enabled investigation of the effect of passage of olive cake through the digestive tract of sheep on N availability and phenol transformation. Applying fresh olive cake and feces, except the saltbush leaf derived feces, resulted in a net N immobilization. All composts resulted in net N mineralization, although not significantly different from the 0N control soil. Barley growing in soils with amendment that caused N immobilization took up less N than barley growing on the 0N treatment. Reduction in N uptake was most pronounced after amendment with fresh-olive cake. Treatments with net mineralization increased barley N uptake over the 0N treatment with 2-16% of N applied being taken up. Dietary composition had a minor effect on N fertilizer value of either feces or compost, but feces N alone was not an efficient N sourc

Economic evaluation of smallholder subsistence livestock production: Lessons from an Ethiopian goat development program

Conventional productivity evaluation criteria are inadequate to evaluate subsistence livestock production, because 1) they fail to capture non-marketable benefits of the livestock, and 2) the core concept of a single limiting input is inappropriate to subsistence production, as multiple limiting inputs (livestock, labour, and land) are involved in the production process. As many of the livestock functions as possible (physical and socio-economic) should be aggregated into monetary values and related to the resources used, irrespective of whether these "products" are marketed, home-consumed or maintained for later use. A broad evaluation model involving three complementary flock-level productivity indices was applied to evaluate subsistence goat production in eastern Ethiopian highlands. The results showed that indigenous goat flocks generated significantly higher net benefits under improved than under traditional management, which challenges the prevailing notion in countries like Ethiopia that indigenous livestock do not adequately respond to improvements in the level of management. It is then concluded that the evaluation model not only allows a broad aggregation of benefits from subsistence livestock, but also provides a more realistic platform to propose sound improvement interventions

Pistachio (Pistacia vera) by-products as ruminant feed: a review on production, management and utilization in arid and semi-arid areas in the Middle East

This review presents recent knowledge of the inclusion of pistachio by-products in diets of ruminants. Pistachio harvesting and processing result in considerable amounts of by-products which include hulls (the outer cover of fruit), woody shells (mesocarp), blank fruits, clusters (sometimes referred as twigs) and leaves. The by-products can be preserved by natural drying or ensilaging. This review evaluates pistachio by-products in terms of chemical composition, nutritive value and their effects on ruminant performance and product quality. Their nutritive value is affected by factors which include type of by-product, pistachio variety, harvesting time and preservation method. Pistachio by-products can use as a source of protein and energy in ruminant feeding to support maintenance and production of meat, milk, wood and hair. Their replacement value in diets of growing, fattening and lactating ruminants ranges between 21-35%.The replacement values of silage from pistachio by-products ranges between 15-24%. However, the presence of high levels of copper and phenolic compounds in pistachio by-products may restrict their inclusion in high proportions into ruminant diets. There is need for more research on the inactivation of phenolic compounds in pistachio by-products so that they can be fed to ruminants in larger proportions. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of pistachio by-products on production and reproduction performance of ruminants as well as product quality. The presence of pesticides, fungicides and phenolic compounds in pistachio by-products necessitate identifying the effect of long term feeding on livestock health

Implications of Land Use Changes on the Yields in Dry Matter, Energy and Protein of Range and Crop Fields in Zamfara Reserve, Northwestern Nigeria

The Zamfara reserve is a 235,500 ha grazing land within the Sudan savannah zone (12º 10\u27 - 13º 05 N; 6º 30\u27 - 7º15\u27 E) of north western Nigeria. Rainfall varies from 500mm in the north to 800mm in the south of the reserve, and is restricted within the months of May - September. The reserve is an important grazing site for the herds of sedentary, transhumant and agro pastoralists. Population growth within the farming communities in the reserve has led to the conversion of more grazing land to croplands. This work was carried out to evaluate the quantity and quality of herbage on the natural range and the croplands, in order to have an insight on the effect of increased cropping activity on biomass availability in the reserve

Caracterização e avaliação da pastagem do rebanho de agricultores familiares do nordeste paraense.

No Nordeste Paraense alguns agricultores familiares têm implantado pequenas áreas de pastagens e manejado pequenos rebanhos com o objetivo de aplicar eventuais ganhos obtidos com os cultivos, criando uma poupança a ser utilizada nas necessidades futuras da família ou da propriedade. Há indícios de problemas nas pastagens e no rebanho que limitam tanto a produção e a sustentabilidade da pecuária, como comprometem os cultivos agrícolas que realmente sustentam a propriedade. Este estudo tratou de identificar as principais limitações e propor alternativas de manejo que sejam econômica e ecologicamente mais sustentáveis. Na primeira fase do estudo, numa amostra ao acaso de 38 propriedades, descreveu-se o manejo da pastagem e do rebanho, e na segunda, numa amostra menor, de doze propriedades e por um período de 29 meses, avaliou-se o potencial desses dois componentes. As propriedades estudadas desenvolvem uma pecuária de baixa produtividade. Devido à baixa fertilidade do solo e o deficiente manejo, as pastagens não suprem os alimentos necessários ao rebanho, tanto em quantidade como em qualidade. Também foram identificadas deficiências no manejo do rebanho, próprias de sistemas extensivos. Contudo, as limitações podem ser solucionadas com práticas amplamente conhecidas de manejo da pastagem (como formação, manutenção e manejo) e do rebanho (reprodução, manejo de bezerros e sanidade em geral). Novos modelos de exploração também foram sugeridos

Seasonal preference of Awassi sheep for Atriplex shrubs suitable for Mediterranean rangelands

The relative preference of Awassi sheep for four promising Atriplex species, A. halimus, A. nummularia, A. canescens and A. lentiformis was tested in cafeteria trials. Atriplex species were offered to sixteen sheep in cafeteria-type experiments during two seasons, spring and autumn. After an adaptation period of 7 days, sheep were offered the species over eight consecutive days. The species were placed in troughs for two hours in the morning after overnight fasting. Sheep were housed individually in pens adjacent to each other. In both seasons, whole species and their botanical fractions were evaluated for chemical composition and in vitro digestibility. The variability of nutritive value among species was not dependent on season or botanical fraction. Time series analysis showed that intake levels and ranking of species did not change over the eight days. Average daily proportions (%) of whole shrub eaten were A. halimus (70.9) A. nummularia (70), A. lentiformis (65.3), and A. canescens (57.9). In autumn, the same order of consumption was maintained, though intake levels tended to be lower compared to spring. The behavioral pattern revealed that the number of return visits to troughs and time spent feeding on species did not influence intake levels. The botanical structure of species explained 20% of the variation in proportion of intake of whole species. The proportion of leaf was the major contributor to variation in proportion of intake of whole species. Relative preference of whole species was explained by intake, nutritive value and fractional proportions of the botanical fractions